For the past couple months my poker luck has been locked in the basement. Monday, my fortunes finally kicked that door and decided to order room service in the Presidential Suite. I took out the first guy and the last guy and four others in between, which included the high-point holder for the bounty payment. Cash money in my pocket. I guess that makes this recent bad run into a push. It also gives me a starting point to grow my jackpot week stack. And my K-K-K-K-A is still holding up for top hand cash. I took some extra chips from a guy with 9h who rode a 10h-Jh-Kh-6d-9c board the whole way in an attempt to catch a straight-flush and displace my cash cow.

The person who was serving as my mentor at work has disappeared. I will probably never know why. I don't care to stick my neck out to do any fact-finding, but now I cannot help but question every piece of advice, guidance, and reassurance that I have received thus far. We shall see if I get another mentor. Of course, I could be out the door any minute, too. Until then, I will keep cashing those paychecks.

It is tempting to take those 4 points. The way these playoffs have gone, I can see a last minute kick being the difference. I certainly like the QB/K combo better on those Bengals. I could also see Super Kupp as MVP. His QB is trained for mediocrity, though. Maybe Cam can wing a couple half-back passes to Kupp.

I watched the Jack Reacher series. It started with promise, but the planning for the final showdown was lacking. The fight scenes overall were uneven. Not all were poorly constructed, and I haven't bothered to collate episode directors with fight quality. If they make any more, I hope that they can iron that out.

I was looking up Krasinski to see if he was going to do any more Jack Ryan (it appears that he is), and I see that there is A Quiet Place III in production. Is this going to be, to quote Paxton's Hudson, a bug hunt? They ended on an island. The creatures cannot swim. They have the paralyzing/exposing sound effect for the creatures. What are going to be the stakes this time?

I liked the first two movies, but it kind of bugged me after seeing the details of the monsters. I feel like the US Army could have mobilized some of their 4000 Abrams to smash the monsters. They don't hide and I am sure they cannot penetrate tank armor. I have a hard time believing that an armor-penetrating sabot round wouldn't have cooked them in their shells.

I am playing too many hands. But I am also snake-bit lately when it comes to poker.

My K-Q dominating a Ks-J, until the runner-runner back door flush comes for that fucking Ks. I went out on with A-7 on a K-Q-10-6-4 board to A-8. At least my quad Ks are still high hand for the season.

I've been a bar soap guy most of my life. Doing the AirBnB thing pushed me into the portable body wash and loofah. I am now on an alternating non-regimented rotation. I keep finding more half-used bottles of body wash. I have three loofah options going right now. I am not sure why I am writing about this, but for some reason, I am having a craving for another bar of -- I am not sure what adjective to use. Fancy? Specialty? Low production? Spa? I want a bar of soap that has a ridiculous scent profile that comes in a chunk as big as my fist. On a whim, I picked up such an item in December. Eucalyptus and Charcoal soap with ragged ends because they just broke off a hunk. Unlike a bar of Dial, that goofy farmer-made soap was dissolved in three weeks. Nothing practical about it, but I really dug that smell combo.

My master plan for clearing the snow from the driveway has worked again. There was rain today. Lovely, lovely rain.

Online, I saw a Lego set that constructed a AT-AT from Empire Strikes Back. It is the size of a large dog. If only such a thing had existed when I was a kid. But then I checked the price tag. They want $700+ for it and it was currently sold out. I can only imagine the "kids" getting that set are in their 30s.

The law of very large numbers dictate that the coffee machine in your hotel has cycled human urine at some time before you rented the room.

There is renewed push for "smart guns". I saw a new company offering that was being demonstrated for some press. The edited video was released and it still contained examples of mechanical failures with the gun. It was almost like this gun company was elaborately trolling the idiots that think "smart guns" are a practical idea.

Hello, YouTube. I watched one video about [insert topic here]. Can you jam another two dozen just like it into my feed? You can?! Well, how about that!

So I've been slowly delving down the well of government officials caught on video attempting to deprive lawful citizens of their Constitutional rights, often 1st Amendment, but also 4th and 5th when things get out of control. Follow up to these videos is often lacking, so I have started to call the city governments/police departments to inquire about the end results. Usually, I am unable to get past the dispatcher because I forget to do it during proper business hours when command staff is in. But, the call takers usually know the YouTube videos I am calling about because of the volume of calls that pour in from around the country when these things go up. I haven't ever called back, because what would be the point? I think it is cool that these local government yahoos get a little of national spotlight. It worked this week in Alabama.

From Monday poker: My cool win was bluffing my paired non-diamond Ace against an obvious flopped two pair when fifth street laid down a fourth diamond and I bet like I had that fifth diamond. On the other hand, I was later victimized  by karma when my paired non-spade Ace watched a fourth spade hit on fifth street and I was bluffed out by a bet from a Kh-Qh. I do currently have season high-hand, holding an Ace with the board's 4 kings. The guy in the pot with me was irritated when I bet big on fifth street, but he called with a Jack. He went on the board with the current best-losing hand, so it wasn't all bad for him.

Periodically, I hear conversations that refer to "pipe-hitters" or individuals that are "pipe-hitting". There is a bunch of revisionist history and hand-waving, but that term was (re)asserted into the common vernacular when Marcellus Wallace told Butch what the near future held for his recently maimed rapist. It is classic Tarantino dialog in the movie that gave him carte blanche in perpetuity. The pipe-hitting referenced in that movie held crack and the hitting meant smoking. Because crackheads will do all kind of depraved shit for a piece of rock. Why the Special Forces community have adopted it as a point of pride is beyond me. I certainly would not have named my charitable organization after a cinematic moment describing the inhumane torture inflicted by hopeless drug addicts.

Thinking I had selected a freezer bag of my recently purchased sirloin beef, I moved it into the refrigerator to thaw. Upon secondary observation, I could tell I had unintentionally started a thaw on a pork roast instead. That pork was thawed today, so I put it into the crock pot. Then I took it out of the crock pot because it was actually a full rack of baby back ribs. I am a dummy. But I am not powerless in the presence of ribs. Instead of boring-ass grocery store sauce, I shook up a Cajun dry rub. Five hours at low heat. Wonderful. I am not a dummy. I am a proper genius. A generous proper genius because I gave a third of it to the lady next door.

I think I am going to try curbside pickup at the grocery this weekend. It is single digit temps out there tonight.

I stumbled across Scotty Ferrall on a cable channel called Sports Grid. It is nice to see that he is somewhere on the dial with his sports betting advice. I am so accustomed to hearing him on the late night radio, it is weird for me seeing his face while he talks. And don't get me started on Mafia. It is interesting that the entire channel seems to have audio levels quality set at Holiday Intern. There is standard for running a TV channel, gentleman, and this is part of the reason you are giving your channel away to be listed in the high 200s on basic cable.

Big Ben is done. Who the hell are they bringing in?

The local grocery store here is out of inventory for Jimmy Dean frozen breakfast everything. Just an empty freezer case. Pizza rolls are cashed as well as those Pillsbury tubes of ready-bake dinner and crescent rolls. The cookie dough tubes in the same section are also long gone. Is it supply chain or is it local cold-weather buying demand?

More off-putting actor: Scott Caan or Jesse Eisenberg?

I took the .300 BLK build to the range to see it work with and without the suppressor.  Supersonic cycled, but ejected too far to the back. Undergased? With the suppressor and subsonic ammo, I got an ejection, but no load. Boy, that puppy is quiet, though. I have an adjustable gas bolt carrier, but no settings solved my reload issue. It was about 20 degrees F when I was shooting, so I wonder if that cold metal was acting extra stiff. The .380 didn't fully return forward on its first shot, and the .22 was having the same issue with the suppressor. But I was shooting subsonic .22 LR. Each shot was goofy quiet, almost like I was shooting an air gun. That was happiness.

Jackpot week tonight. And because of my poor play this season, I was low stack on the bonus chips. I knew I had to move early and often to keep from being swallowed by the blinds. The hands that fucked me:

Q-Q-4-4-9 run out holding Q-5. I was correctly worried that the other guy left in the pot had me out-kicked. When the second 4 came on 5th street, I thought  his big bet was from a place of counterfeited frustration, but it was really from a place of Q-9. At least QQQ44 qualified for high losing hand for the season. If it holds up through the night, that is some cash  back in my pocket.

I went out with Qh-10h all-in against four others on a board of 7d-Ah-9h-3d. I got two to drop, but a guy with pocket Qs wouldn't give it up. The fourth guy folded. 5c on fifth street sent me packing.

I did have some luck when my pocket fives took down pocket fours after we each flopped out trips. That was was not enough to save me.

Tonight's decisive turd was my unsuited A-K up against the pocket 8s. Flop came K-5-8. The last two cards were blanks. Boom goes the dynamite and out I went. My one shining moment was bluffing all-in with Ad-Kd against a pocket pair of tens with this board: Qh-Jd-8d-7h-4s. The Doc folded those tens and his night went right off the rails, including getting his pocket Aces cracked, and being first to be knocked out.

If you are ever curious on how the points chase is going for the current season or how any given week shaped up, you can get the standings here: Bedlam Poker

It's been a shit season for me so far. At least I didn't pay out against the newbie who showed up this week and pulled a Royal Straight Flush.

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Filibuster change upcoming? Fuck, there goes the neighborhood. Here comes the gun control bullshit. And maybe Supreme Court stacking?

The NFL talking heads, that are always trying to fill the bullshit pre-game time they are allotted, cannot be bothered to spend an extra sentence to explain why Demaryius Thomas is dead. They want to get credit for bringing it up, showing the little piece of the field where his number is spray-painted, but will not give a single hint on WHY he died. Fuck you TV talking heads. You bums make me go to the internet to look it up. Are you trying to drive traffic to some website? This happens with nearly every famous death. Tell us if the cancer finally got them or they choked on a chicken foot. The same problem has migrated into regular people obituaries. The reality: If you are going to tell me that someone died, the second thing out of your mouth better be how. Then I will decide if I can about details of their surviving family or their life accomplishments. For the record: Seizure in the shower. Found dead after it was over. They better follow up with an autopsy report.

This has been happening in all products for years, but goddam if they didn't recently downsize regular ice cream cartons. F'em.

This isn't a Gear Griner, but the flavor drop off with cheese pizza rolls is a criminal affront. Who buys cheese pizza rolls regularly enough to keep that product on the shelves? Also Combination>Triple Meat. For those not up to date on the Totino's product line, Combination = sausage and pepperonit pizza, while Triple Meat's three meats are not even disclosed on the description on Totino's website. I would like to say the meats are Alpaca, Ostrich, and Opossum (wild caught/road recovered). Buried at the bottom of the Totino's page in the ingredients section, they claim "pepperoni seasoned pork, chicken, and beef". Pass.

Toyotathon commercials. Fuck off. You, too, Buick.

AWS, stop trying to make Fetch Stat That happen. It's not going to happen.

The defenseless player and QB baby coddling rules in the NFL have over-trained the secondary defenders into giving up on the play. I saw a QB run past the pylon into the endzone even though two DBs were running along the goal line with an opportunity to dive/hit the QB out of bounds. Instead, the shoulders of the QB rubbed across the chest of the lead DB as he scored. An 80s coach would have benched that defensive bum. I am not a heavy watcher of the NFL game this year, but even I have seen DBs give up on the tackle in three different games. I am glad they have finally put Spearing back on the penalty menu and I don't mind the surrender slide, but this no-hit of running QBs because they are near a transition line on the field is bullshit.

People who insist Cam Newton can still play effectively in the NFL.

Razors designed in ways that allow hair to get caught between blades or safety bars. I am glad I don't have to shave every work day anymore. No more suits, uniforms, or ties, either. My wheel house: T-shirts on occasional Zoom meetings. But screw those razor designs.

Politicians that disingenuously propose silly things like magazine limitations or illegal gun registries would make a difference in school shootings.

Its turning out to be "share the touchdowns day" on the Chiefs. GET Kelce the ball! Woe to those who started Jacobs. Vegas will be throwing for the rest of the day.

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I am caught up with Yellowstone, except the impossible-to-see current season. Every character will be dead when that show ends. I watched the first episode of the new season of The Expanse. I would watch 100 episodes of that show if they would make them. And I binged the entirety of The Sex Lives of College Girls. Like a CW teen show, but R-rated. Favorite character: The spunky wheelchair chick.

Had not a bad day working. I closed it down early to go with Ty and Flash to the visitation of my dead buddy.

Saw dead buddy's wife and three girls. Bummed out. Talked with mother and sister. Super bummed. Then my ex shows up (dead buddy's sister's friend from high school). Not helping my bummer feeling one bit. Then Ty gets a message that one of his employees is dating a guy who just positive tested for the WuFlu. So instead of having the after-visitation round or two of commiserating booze over dinner, he is distracted trying to rework his entire staff's schedule to cover using his mobile phone. And Flash brings up that he had to take a second job to cover while he waits in administrative law hell, hoping to have his state licensing re-instated. Fucking fun goddam night.

Fucking shit. How long do I lay awake thinking about all this shit? It is so bad that, on Friday, Ty is going to Indy, but his return is o'dark thirty Sunday morning. Do I have to spell it out? There is not even a goddam Yats run on the horizon to make everything okay.

Friday night, Chris and I might put away a premium bottle of bourbon over a few games of chess. But even that doesn't completely scrub the nerves numb, because I will probably still need to drive home after. I might have to pop for an in-town Uber. Do I need an app for that? Jokes.

Niece is on the phone. Maybe that can cheer me up.

Covid clipped a high school friend of mine this week. He had just made retirement from Chicago PD. Toughest guy I have personally known. What a waste.

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Thanksgiving, plan it now or you'll be eating canned beets and Ritz crackers.

Central dish: Grilled Turkey over Hickory chips and charcoal>Oven Turkey>Smoked Ham>Oven Ham>any honey Ham>raw Turkey

Main side dish: Mashed Russets>Redskins mashed individually with your own fork>baked white potato>any sweet potato>yams>poi

First toast: Dry sparkling champagne>German Riesling>gin martini>ice-cold unflavored Stoli shooter>ice water (especially if recovering alcoholic)>runny gravy

Back to work you slackers.

With the new job, I will be interested to see what work/life balance resolves. There is plenty on my plate.

I need to find a jewelry maker. Maybe that isn't enough. Maybe I need to find a fine metal artist. I have been seeking an inlay for the walnut pistol grips I am making for the Micro 9. I want a rattlesnake that is coiled and ready to strike. I think that I would have it made from silver. I cannot find anything for sale that captures the concept I am envisioning. I've taken up the wood carving and gun assembly to go along with the watercolor painting. Watching those recovered material smelting videos on YouTube, maybe I need to take up melting recovered electrical boxes and old computer boards and start making jewelry.

Many disadvantaged kids might look back on their school years, lamenting that their school did not provide enough academic opportunity and rigor. I was fortunate enough to attend a public high school that did provide a comprehensive college prep education with AP opportunities and options to take local university classes. In hindsight, I think I was screwed the opposite way by my school. I could have taken Jewelry Making I & II. I also had a hypothetical shot at Welding class as well. But these classes were only held during the exact times as the Geometry/Algebra III & IV/Trig/Calc or the Bio/Chem/Physics track. I could have parlayed my enjoyment of scuba diving with mad welding skills to make the big bank doing deep sea welding on oil platforms. I was robbed of my future.

Position of deep sea welder on the Continuum of Manly Toughness:

Long Haul Trucker<Texas H.S. Football Coach<Rugby League Prop<Blacksmith<Bull Rider<1880s Lumberjack<Deep Sea Welder<Smokejumper<Cage Fighter<Military Aircraft Test Pilot

I knew it. I just knew that Michigan would piss away the game today. I am almost completely over college football for good.

The last step of my AR pistol is moving through the streams of commerce. I love tracking numbers. Right now my Romeo7 is traveling through Northampton, PA. I have both speedy and subsonic rounds ready for zeroing it out, probably for 100yrd use.

Play-action jet sweep = Yucky. Play-action bootleg pass to delay-release TE = The tastiest of treats.

The summer heat edge is off. This week has been perfect. While it is nice to have work, it would have been the best week to be in the lake or riding the bike somewhere.

After the holiday, I have both my fantasy teams drafted...wait, what the fuck is this?!...

I am watching the opening football game (Touchdown Tommy is on my law school team), and there is some substitute national anthem song. Dammit, NFL, quit trying to be woke and just send us the yummy, brain-damage we crave. I don't need something that sounds like a Boys2Men slow jam opening up the on-field action. And before some random wanderer reads this and decides to pop off, I have already vocalized my displeasure of being subjected to Ed Sheerhands because I thought the game started an hour earlier than it does. My point: I hate all your music choices, without regard to slight genetic differences among the performers.

Damn, Brady looks good. I guess a supermodel wife keeps you from getting sloppy.

There are eight assholes from NBC picking the game. This organization is a bit top heavy on the screen. Is that fucking Drew Brees? I thought we were done with that biscuit-faced bland man. [Sigh.]

Oh here is poker game snap from the auction:

It is probably good I am writing this during the game. Commercials almost neutralize the happiness of football. Red zone. Red Zone. RED ZONE!

Red Zone doesn't help after 6pm.

I gave AC his stogie for bringing my Yats, but I think I need to mail him a check for the actual amount.

Here is another draft-participant and utilizer of the AC delivery service:

Yummy, yummy Yats.

Head & Shoulders and Troy! One good commercial.

Working from home means you can grill steak for lunch. I finished my family value-pack of sirloins today. Is it sacrilege that I cut them into strips and ate the strips in hot dog buns? Because I did that. Today. Deal with it.

Chris Pratt is selling Chevys. WTF. Brady selling Subway like a perfume made me grin.

Ne poker during the holiday. Next Monday will be a Week 2, so two weeks ago was a Jackpot week. I was tied for fourth with season points, so I started with the third most chips. It was enough to get me through my bad plays. I ended up taking 2nd for the Jackpot Week. I came into the heads up way behind the chip leader. I took a big hit right away, such that I was all-in for the next blind. Then I went on an improbable six pre-flop "all-in" win streak. The other guy was the one going all-in and I was behind at least four times going into the flop. Once I got the chip lead, I tried leaning on him with a better hand pre-flop. He called and a fifth-street 7 gave him a pair to win. I was out the following hand. But it was an amazing run.

I took a ride down to Byron Center on the paved trail. I am happy to see how many people take advantage of the scenic trail around this part of the state. I took Tony on the trail between Holland and Saugatuk on the way to the draft. I think he liked the change of pace. I have yet to make a bike ride to Founders in this quasi-post-Covid era. Maybe this fall.

Regarding "rebuilding" the hurricane ravaged areas, how about we don't. I am thinking a "re-engineering", maybe. These fuckers on the Gulf and the Atlantic need to move their dumb asses inland about ten miles. Anything left near the water needs to be built to operate in storm surge and 100mph winds. Turn those lands into wild-life sanctuaries and Federal parks.

Galaxy Z might be my next phone.

Ariana Grande is on the Voice, and I still don't watch it. Does someone super-clip Grande's footage each week? I might watch that.

Watching this Tampa/Dallas game, I am thinking that Tommy is going to carve this league like a gift Cratchit goose. Having him on the law school team makes me giddy. My law school team name: Snake Jazz. The homer league: Sea Cucumber. What TV show have I been binging lately? HBO's Titans would be a technically correct answer, but I slept or fast-forwarded through chunks of that show. Sea Cucumber! Seaaa Cucumber!...that still cracks me up.

WTF--does Disney or Hyundai need the money more? What sense does a cross-promotion make there?

This blog entry is turning into a live stream of sorts. The parts of my next AR are trickling in. It is amazing how much I have learned on the subject this past couple years. Despite that bullshit the President and his "AFT" are trying to pull, decided to try out a pistol brace setup. Remaining decisions: Grip(s), buffer set up (length, weight, hydra, contained spring, folding), sights (leaning toward Romeo7), trigger, sling? It will be interesting to see if I can get any reasonably-priced ammo before I get it built.

It looks like Gio is the new starter. The other two bums can sit until week 3 and think about how they tarnish Tommy's legacy. Antonio knows how to protect Tommy's legacy. Good boy, Antonio!

My car needs some tender loving. The radio has progressed from "only gets reception once warmed up" to "will continuously tune through the spectrum" to "now your CD is frozen and will not eject". I have a patch of orange to grind and repaint on the back passenger wheel-well, some interior detailing, and an air suspension system to sort out.

Alright. I am going to focus on the second half. Hope this was enough for now. Good night, Cy.